RockOnTheNet.com
presents The Top Pop Songs
Of All Time !
We have ranked the top pop songs that have charted over the past
50+ years on The ARC Weekly Top 40 and Billboard Hot 100, and
come up with
a definitive list that will continue to expand as we add to it,
and continue to modify as new songs chart on The ARC Weekly Top
40.

Prince or or "The Artist" was born
Prince Roger Nelson on June 7, 1958 in
Minneapolis. Prince taught himself how to play
many instruments and self-produced his first LP, For
You,
by 1978. As his success grew, he eventually
founded his own label: Paisley Park. Prince's
musical styles have been compared to James
Brown, Jackie Wilson and
other r&b heavy weights, but as Prince's
career grew, Prince became a legend on his own
merit with a knack for delivering funk, rock and
soul with an occasional pop feel. Prince has
amassed 11 #1 hits and 22 Top 10 hits on the pop
charts. Prince released a string of LPs
throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s in
addition to touring, writing and producing for
other artists and staring in a few movies. His
first 4 LP releases were modest hits with R&B
audiences and are considered to be some of his
best work. Prince was allowed great independence
from his record label, Warner Brothers, to create
his own kind of music.

April 7: Prince released his debut
LP For
You
which contained the hit "Soft And Wet"
- the only track on the LP not written
exclusively by Prince. Prince also produced the
debut LP and played all the instruments.

October 27: Prince released a 2-LP
set, 1999 which introduced Prince
more to pop audiences the following year. The set
included the hits "1999," "Little Red Corvette,"
"Delirious," and "Let's Pretend
We're Married."

June 25: It might be said that
1984 was the year of Prince. He starred in the
movie Purple
Rainwhich found sound success with the critics,
but more importantly created a soundtrack to the
movie that exemplified the musical genius of
Prince. The LP sold over 13 million copies and
produced the #1 hits: "When Doves Cry," "Let's Go Crazy," and "Purple Rain." The LP also contained the
hits "I Would Die 4 U" and "Take Me
With You," the controversial track,
"Darling Nikki" and the haunting
"The Beautiful Ones." Prince went on to
win an Academy Award for the film's music. When Rolling
Stone
ranked the "100 Best Albums of the
80s," Purple
Rain
came in at # 2.

April 22: Prince's much anticipated
follow-up LP came in 1985 with Around
The World In A Day. The LP was described as a more
pop-friendly Prince with less sexual overtones in
his music. Prince topped the charts with "Raspberry Beret" and had success with
"Pop Life" and
"America."

March 25: Prince tried his hand at
the movie/soundtrack combination again with Parade, the soundtrack to the
film Under
The Cherry Moon. Critical praise was very hard to
find for the film, but Prince's music did
continue his success with the #1 track "Kiss" and hits
"Anotherloverholenyohead" and "Mountains."

August 20: Prince embarked on
another movie/soundtrack combination with Graffiti
Bridge
and found failure with both. Although the
soundtrack did contain the Top 10 "Thieves In The Temple," more attention was
paid to the soundtrack contributions of Tevin
Campbell and Mavis Staples.

September 28: Prince & The N.P.G.
topped the Billboard Dance Music Club Play chart
for 1 week with "Gett Off."

October 1: Prince re-emerged with
another commercial success: Diamonds
And Pearls. The LP found audiences in the
emerging hip-hop arena as well as the VH-1 crowd.
Songs on the LP ranged from the sexy funk of
"Gett Off" and to the more
vocal focused title track. Prince hit #1 with the
title track and "Cream" and found success with "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" and
"Insatiable."

September: Prince changed his name
to a combination of the male and female symbol: . His name pronunciation since then
has ranged from "The Artist Formerly Known
As Prince," "TAFKAP," The
Artist," and "Victor." Yet, most
people, Rock On The Net included, have their own
pronunciation of the symbol: "Prince."
Prince also implied that he might never release a
studio LP again.

Prince released a 3-CD set of
unreleased material available by mail-order from
Prince's website. With Prince no longer
associated with EMI Records, the artist felt a
greater sense of musical freedom: "My
success is no longer defined by others..."
Internet sales ofCrystal
Ball
have shown to be brisk. Although total sales are
less than a typical release would initiate, the
direct profit for the musicians is more
substantial. Prince stated that "...charts,
awards and grades at school R sociopsychotic
illusion."

March 3: Crystal
Ball
was later sold exclusively at Best Buy stores
followed by Musicland and Blockbuster stores. The
CD set - a collection of older, unreleased Prince
material - included the acoustic tracks on The
Truth (a CD free when the Crystal
Ball
was also purchased).

June 30: Prince released Newpower
Soul
with the single "The One." The LP was
distributed through NPG Records.

July: Prince allowed fans to
download his 26-minute single, "The
War" for free off his website, love4oneanother, and talked with SonicNet
Music News: "It's our music... go tape
it and give it to friends... spread it
around." Prince is also encouraging fans who
download the song make a donation to a children's
charity.

September: Prince had to postpone
several dates of his current tour with Chaka
Khan after he sprained his ankle while
performing in Atlantic City. The accident was
believed to be due to a slick stage caused by a
fog machine.

December: Prince announced that he
have annulled his marriage to Mayte and the 2
will remain apart until next year's Valentine's
Day when they will be re-married.

August 24: Warner Bros. Records
released older, unreleased Prince music in the
form of The
Vault - Old Friends 4 Sale. The LP contains music
recorded between 1985 and 1994 and includes the
first single "Extraordinary."

December 31: Prince ended the year
with a pay-per-view concert on New Year's Eve and
officially retired his hit "1999" stating on The Early Show
"This is going to be the last time we play
it. We're going to retire it after this, and
there won't be no need to play it in the
00s."

March 4: Whitney was honored at
the Soul Train Music Awards as the Artist of the
Decade for Extraordinary Artistic Achievement -
Male.

March: The same month Prince
disputed with his new label Arista and refused to
release a remix of his latest LP stating that his
label did not promote his LP adequately enough
for a hit single.

May 20: Prince asked that he be
called 'Prince' again instead of - a symbol he used as his
name "to free myself from all undesirable
relationships" - Prince also broke with
Arista Records.

June: Prince celebrated the
reinstitution of his name with a 6-day open-house
and tour of his Paisley Park studios ending with
a 3+ hour concert.

June: Prince
kicked off a 7-week North America tour - but the
tour was cancelled for unknown reasons in July.

March 15: Prince was inducted into
the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and said at the
ceremony "When I first started out in this
music industry, I was most concerned with
freedom. I wish you all the best on this
fascinating journey. It ain't over."

April 20: Prince released his next
LP Musicology - released by Columbia
Records instead of the Internet.

April 8: Prince topped the
Billboard 200 LP chart for 1 week for the first
time in 17 years and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart for 1 week with 3121- the LP sold
over 183,000 copies in the US its first week of
release.

April 21: Prince died at the age of
57. His death was later determined to be caused
by a self-administered deadly dose of fentanyl by
accident. Fentanyl is an opiate frequently used
to treat severe pain. The final investigation
into any wrong-doing in his death determined that
Prince had died after accidentally overdosing on
counterfeit painkillers that contained the
fentanyl.

Note: Song title and position
links lead you to the song's ARC Weekly Top 40 chart run, LP links take
you to Amazon.com for that LP's info (often
including track listings and track samples), and
single cover art takes you to Amazon.com for that CD single (if
available). Songs charting prior to 1980 have
information from Billboard magazine.